Phil Valentine Is Hiking Appalachian Trail To Send A Message

Manchester Appellation Hiker

Jon Olson/Special to The Courant, Hartford Courant

Phillip Valentine, of Manchester, will head off to start his hike on the Appalachian trail in two weeks. He is starting in Georgia, the traditional starting point, and has given himself six months to complete the hike. He is photograpohed in front of his Manchester home.

Phillip Valentine, of Manchester, will head off to start his hike on the Appalachian trail in two weeks. He is starting in Georgia, the traditional starting point, and has given himself six months to complete the hike. He is photograpohed in front of his Manchester home. (Jon Olson/Special to The Courant, Hartford Courant)

A Manchester man who overcame drug addiction and cancer is hiking the Appalachian Trail

Phil Valentine, who has overcome both drug addiction and cancer, is planning to hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine to spread a message about recovery.

Valentine, a Manchester resident who has been executive director of the Hartford-based Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery for the past 10 years, is starting his hike on March 19, exactly five years after he was diagnosed with stage four cancer of the tongue.

But the 55-year-old father of five said the story behind his recovery-themed hike began much earlier.

In 1987, while working as a golf professional at a local country club, Valentine had just ended a 12-year-long drinking problem. Then someone offered him cocaine.

"When I stopped drinking, things got better. But I was defenseless. I had no program of recovery," Valentine said. "I took the cocaine. That was like a two-year rocket ship to hell."

Valentine's realization that he had a problem came when he found himself needing to use cocaine the day his first child was born.

"I had to have my dealer give me some cocaine to get through the delivery," Valentine said. "I held my first daughter wildly strung out on cocaine. I'm not proud of that fact. But after 27 years, I'm no longer ashamed."

Valentine, sitting in his Manchester home, points to a photograph on the wall of him at his daughter's recent wedding. He speaks proudly about having the opportunity to walk her down the aisle. Other photos around his house remind him of that, too.

"I've seen my son and my other daughter graduate from high school and my 13-year-old son blossom in basketball," Valentine said. "I've lived and been able to see these things."

Valentine said his recovery is a lifelong challenge and not something that is ever over. His is largely faith-based, he said, but the ones offered by the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery vary. He's worked for the organization for 16 years.

He said the nonprofit's purpose is to put a face to recovery and that his hike, which is sponsored by the group, will carry that message.

"Everybody knows somebody who is either in recovery or has struggled with an addiction," Valentine said. "A huge portion is affected, but we hardly talk about it."

Valentine's decision to hike the Appalachian Trail came in early 2011 during his recovery from cancer. He's going to be speaking at stops along the trail and is trying to reach a fundraising goal of $75,000 for the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery.

Valentine was never a hiker before, and he's not yet sure if he's going to be able to finish the entire trail, but he said that was never his true intention.

"My goal has never been to finish. My goal has been to start," Valentine said. "Finishing it is to show my family that if you believe in something, and you put your mind to it, you can accomplish almost anything."

Valentine has been married to his wife, Sandy, for 21 years. They have four children together and she said that although the family will be challenged while he's gone for upwards of six months, they also understand why it's important for him to do this.

"It's living life to the fullest. That's what this is for him," she said. "There's going to be a whole set of life lessons that we're all going to have as a family from it."

"The strength of how I approach the trail is one day at a time," Phil Valentine said. "The question I ask myself is if I can take one more step. If the answer is yes, then I keep going."

Valentine will be updating his progress on the Appalachian Trail online at at4recovery.org.